Born in Leeds, suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan spent his working life with young, vulnerable children.

The 30-year-old, father to a 14-month-old daughter, Maryam, was a mentor in primary schools for children with learning difficulties. He is known to have taught hundreds of children.

Three years ago, while working at Hillside primary school in the city, he railed against the government for not putting enough money into the education of children with learning difficulties. He said of his work with children of five and upwards: "A lot of them have said this is the best school they have been to."

One child who was taught by him at Hillside said: "He seemed a really kind man, he taught the really bad kids and everyone seemed to like him. He was there about three years and then he went on holiday and never came back. We just knew him as Mr Khan."

Khan was born in 1974 at St James's hospital, Leeds. His father, Tika Khan, was born in Pakistan and worked in a foundry, and his mother was Mamida Begum.

The family is believed to have lived in Leeds before moving to Beeston, where Khan grew up and came into contact with at least two of the suicide bombers.

He attended Matthew Murray high school in Beeston, the same school where, several years later, Hasib Hussain, the bus bomber, would be a pupil.

Khan grew up in Beeston, only moving to Dewsbury last year. He knew the two other suicide bombers from the streets of the working class area where the three would play football in the evenings.

"What he did is disgusting," said Noman Hansrot, a neighbour in Lees Holm, Dewsbury, where Khan lived with his wife, Hasina Patel.

Mr Hansrot said Khan was not a member of the local Darulilm mosque. Yesterday its followers expressed horror at what he had done. "This is not an extreme place," Mr Hansrot said.

Like Shehzad Tanweer, Khan went to university in Leeds, where he met his future wife, an Indian Muslim whose family lived in Dewsbury.

Khan's mother-in-law, Farida Patel, also dedicated herself to education. Last year she was a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party, where she received an award for her work as a teacher specialising in bilingual studies.